Caught in the Moment
by VauseVentures
Summary: Laura/Taylor (Laylor) fanfic. Timeline has been adapted significantly to match the plot line. When Laura splits from her boyfriend she receives comfort from an unlikely source and what appears friendly at first just may develop into something much more.


**I am no way saying this is fully represents what Laura and Taylor are like as I don't know them in person, and this is just a fanfic. It loosely follows some events from January 2014 onwards but only to fit around the plot line.**

The Christmas break had just ended and the Golden Globes were drawing near as well as several other key events. Although Laura Prepon hadn't been at the forefront of Season 2 of Orange is the New Black she was still a vital member of the cast, one they were not willing to let go and seemingly she didn't want to leave either. All the confusion surrounding Laura's lack of filming for the season in production seemed a non-issue with the amount of promotional events she was due to attend.

This had come at the right time for Laura who quite frankly needed a distraction from her personal life. The Christmas vacation had been nothing short of a disaster as she found herself once again a single woman. Laura was never one to openly talk about her relationship, especially considering the amount of media speculation that might arise as a result so instead she had created other methods of dealing with her break-up. It wasn't necessarily that she deeply loved the guy – she can honestly say she didn't – but he wasn't right for her, and quite frankly he was a pathetic boyfriend and Christmas was the final straw. She was just relieved that she could throw herself into her work and disguise myriad of emotions that consumed her brain and ate away at her as she found herself with little to do.

Normally, she'd spend her evenings writing, trying to convey her thoughts in a form of scripts, creating characters that on some sort of level she was able to relate to but this break-up was on a whole new level. Not in the sense of it being a tumultuous romantic love affair that was destined to end badly, or that she was abused, torn and broken. Purely because it fucked with her brain; simply her thoughts were imploding her mind and consuming too much space. Confusion was one of her biggest fears that lack of control, or misunderstanding that she very rarely possessed – she would not allow herself to.

But things had been developing over time, thoughts, emotions and feelings that had been bottled up and had consequently exploded into this mess that she felt she had become. She wanted a reason to be herself again, to smile so effortlessly and feel comfortable and content. Laura was relieved that she had agreed to host a karaoke party as a way of getting the cast together. She'd spent the last couple of days trying to organise things, ensure that her karaoke machine was in order – and it was – ensure that there was enough alcohol amongst many other things.

Laura glanced down at her watch; in about half an hour the cast members and several of her friends would be arriving to her LA home. Everyone was over for the Golden Globes so really it made all the sense for her to have a karaoke evening tonight. Although it was Orange is the New Black centric there were many of her LA friends that were invited and she knew it would be a chance for her to get a breath of fresh air.

Laura glanced at herself in her en suit mirror checking that her tight black dress that accentuated her cleavage was in order and that her extensions were curled and in place, and that none of them were in danger of falling out. Once satisfied she washed her hands, drying them on the blue towel that hung from the rack and exited the bathroom.

Now was the right time for her switch on the music. She was able to have it at whatever volume she wanted given that her ground floor was open plan and the walls were soundproof. The enabled her to contain the party within one area. Normally, during the summer that is, she'd open up her back yard and maybe even have a barbeque but given that temperatures were barely reaching 70 degrees fareignheit at the minute that would be unwise – and that was during the day. Evenings could stoop below 50 and given that the clock on her mantelpiece read seven forty-five it was blatant that this wasn't going to be a warm evening.

Despite there still being a good fifteen minutes now before her first guests were expected Laura heard her doorbell ring several times and grinned as she glanced towards her window. Jodi her PA and best friend, as well as several of her other friends were here early with alcohol in toe. They'd all stuck to the theme of smart dress much to Laura's relief, as when it came to these girls she was never sure what they were going to do. They came inside with all smiles and grins, and there were hugs all round. They all slipped off their shoes as that had been one rule laid out by Laura that there was no room to manoeuvre on. Her floors were wooden and recently cleaned, and despite it being easy to clear up mess Laura was having none of it.

Laura invited them to hang up their coats and jackets in a closet that was immediately to the left of her on the inside porch. They were regulars at her LA home and thus knew the drill, and they excitedly walked off into the kitchen to help themselves to nibbles, and to pour themselves a drink. Jodi, dissatisfied with the music volume, decided that something needed to be done and she muttered a comment about Laura's music taste, not that anyone heard.

Very soon more people flooded into the house and the party began to liven up. A quarter after eight however and a few of Laura's closest members of the cast were yet to arrive. The raven headed woman had not noticed this and had instead been sucked into the lively party that had now got going. Few had gone to the yard in order to smoke amongst other things but Laura wasn't worried considering her closest neighbours were either out of town or in attendance and it was on their own head if they gained hypothermia.

With the loud music it was getting harder and harder to hear the doorbell go so eventually Laura grabbed her friend Chris and sat by the window until she saw the last of her cast members pull up and she leapt up form her seat. She would finally be able to join in the party fully as she had done earlier without having to worry about people arriving. A tone-deaf version of 'Livin' on a Prayer' could be heard as the karaoke machine was in operation. There were cheers and claps in a rhythm as they cheered on the singers until the song finished and then another was chosen and several people stepped forwards. Chris merged with the karaoke lot joining in, albeit in a mere whisper.

Laura opened her front door for what would be the final time this evening for arrivals to see Natasha, Yael, Danielle and Taylor beaming awkwardly. Natasha stalked inside embracing Laura in a hug before speaking up "Oi Prepon."

"Hello to you too," Laura replied rather sarcastically.

Natasha ignored the sarcasm rolling her eyes at Laura before continuing on, "where's your toilet? Taylo has a wardrobe malfunction and none of us can sort it."

Laura directed them all to hang up their coats as she listened to Natasha speak. It was then her eyes diverted to where Taylor was standing. The blond was in light blue strapless dress and her hair was tied up in a bun with her bangs hanging down loosely curled. She looked absolutely stunning. It took Laura a minute to realise that she was staring and it was only Natasha prompting her for a response that she realised she was yet to answer the question.

Her reply was directly to Taylor. "I can take a look at it for you?" She was a bit unsure so added, "that's if you want?"

By now the other three had hung their coats up and joined in the karaoke Danielle in particular got herself stuck in straight away. This left Laura and Taylor standing by the porch. There was a small breeze left over from where the door had just been shut and Laura noticed the goose bumps appear on Taylor's arms but said nothing. The porch was only dimly lit and wasn't made to be hanging around in. Taylor turned her body away from Laura demonstrating where the wardrobe malfunction existed. Laura noticed it straight away, the clasp had come undone and had instead got caught on the material.

"It's too dark I can't see a thing." Laura spoke eventually. There had been a silence as she'd attempted to tackle the issue. "What we really need is someone with finger nails." She continued to try and solve the problem and eventually gave up.

She grabbed hold of Taylor's hand without realising what she was doing and lead her inside her home, "come on." Taylor quietly followed Laura, which was unusual for her. Taylor was normally pulling out jokes, laughing along, but rarely was she quiet. Laura assumed that she was slightly embarrassed at the fact that her dress was barely staying up on its own and thought nothing more of it. She snaked through crowds of people and upon noticing someone enter her downstairs toilet directed Taylor upstairs. She didn't think much of what she was doing right now but if she looked back on it later on she might highlight this as a key point. Her hand still entwined with Taylor's she lead the way into her bedroom.

Taylor confused as to why Laura had dragged her all the way up here loosened her grip on the tall woman. As an immediate response Laura let go of Taylor's hand and walked back towards the door where she switched on her light. It was a good job she'd made the executive decision to make her bed this morning.

Calling her room large was an understatement. It was absolutely massive. The floors were carpeted, cream. The walls white and there was a single painting above a king sized bed that was situated in the middle of the room. To the left of them was the en suit bathroom and to the right was a large window, but the curtains had been drawn. The curtains, much like the bedspread was blood red and Taylor was surprised to find that this was Laura's room. It just seemed the opposite of her. Taylor wouldn't have been surprised if Laura had dragged her into a room with posters still on the walls of UFC fighters and all the different bands that she liked, but it appeared Laura was exceedingly sophisticated.

When Laura swivelled back round to head towards Taylor she smiled as she watched the woman search the room with her eyes. "It's quite surprising isn't it?" Laura asked her. Her voice was louder than she had anticipated but when is it not?

"It's quite something." Taylor replied. Taylor flinched as she felt Laura's hands on her back. Laura was able to get a better view of how to untangle the clasp and despite her not having long fingernails she managed to sort it out within five minutes.

"It turns out there is a downside to playing a drug smuggling lesbian." Laura joked as she held up her fingernails to Taylor once she'd completed the process.

"Oh so she finally admits that it's not perfect playing Alex Vause?"

"I see what you're doing. I still stick by my view." Laura raised her eyebrows in that sexy way that Taylor had only really seen _Alex Vause _do.

There was an in-joke between the pair that had started ever since filming for the show began, as both actresses were defensive over their characters. It would always start with Taylor telling Laura to 'step the fuck up' and take responsibility for her characters actions but Laura would always remain stubborn even a year and a half later this was still the same.

Moments after the pair had returned back to the party mixing in with the crowds. Neither one was to really see the other for the next couple of hours as separated into different conversations and different groups of people. Taylor had, had several singsongs on the karaoke machine and she was cracking jokes left right and centre. Laura on the other hand would usually be right up there singing joining in the whole shebang but tonight she didn't feel like it. She was mildly tipsy and this only brought her confused and emotional state to the surface.

She excused herself from conversation, grabbing a bottle of beer and dragged herself up the stairs. She thought tonight was exactly what she needed and it was provided she didn't get drunk but she was already halfway there and now she was going to hide herself away until she could sober herself up again. She didn't know why she brought the beer with her, in fact she knew exactly why – her intentions were to get drunk on her sorrows – she also knew that that was exactly what she shouldn't be doing.

So mixed up in her own thoughts she plonked herself on the bed and took a swig of her beer. She was so oblivious to her surroundings that she hadn't noticed there was someone in her en suit bathroom. Had she been aware she'd have been caught off guard to say the least. This was her private room; one would naturally assume it was out of bounds to guests. There were two other bathrooms in the house for people to use.

The person emerged from the bathroom humming a tune that had recently been sung on the karaoke. It wasn't until she'd got halfway to the door that she'd noticed Laura sitting on the bed and she began to apologise. "I'm sorry, the downstairs toilet had a queue and I didn't know if there was a third bathroom. I didn't mean to intrude or anything." She could have continued speaking but then she noticed that the raven-haired woman wasn't paying attention. The blonde changed her direction and headed towards the woman. "Laura are you okay?"

Taylor sat on the bed beside Laura not sure exactly how to respond to the woman. After a minute she made the decision to place on hand on her back and slowly she massaged it lightly in circles to sooth the woman down. The other hand took the bottle of beer from Laura who was surprising relieved. In this moment Laura felt vulnerable. She placed her head on Taylor's shoulder and listened to the sound of her voice telling her that whatever it was it would be okay. She was almost inclined to believe her.

"When I was a little girl I thought I'd grow up, get married to my prince charming, have a couple of kids, a dog, you know?" Taylor was paying attention but assumed it was a rhetorical question, and she was right when Laura continued talking. "Here I am thirty-three, single, and I have no idea what I want." Taylor reassured her that it was normal. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't be shoving my issues on you."

"Hey, it's fine." Taylor replied sympathetically. She reached into her pocket and pulled out a tissue. "Here," she offered to Laura. Laura looked up at here confused. "Don't worry I haven't used it." Laura chuckled a little before thanking Taylor and taking the tissue from her.

It was in this moment that Natasha decided to enter the room, "Laura what have you been doing? Everyone's left already."

Laura glanced at the clock before realising that it was coming to two in the morning and both her and Taylor leapt up from where they'd been sitting. They followed Natasha down the stairs to see the house pretty empty. Only Jodi, Natasha, Yael and Danielle remained. Natasha informed Taylor that they were heading off now and this was met with agreement. They grabbed their coats and said their goodbyes but Taylor hung around for a second.

"You coming Taylo?" Natasha called to her as she exited the door and noticed that Taylor wasn't leaving.

"In a minute, I'll catch you up." Natasha shouted something back but she couldn't quite make out what was said.

Laura watched as Taylor turned to face her and her first reaction was to scan the room. Jodi had gone upstairs to the spare room she supposed. Her attention turned back to Taylo who looked just as beautiful as she had done at the beginning of the night.

"Are you going to be okay?" Taylor asked her with concern in her voice, which was also displayed in her blue eyes.

"Yeah," Laura brushed it off. "I've got Jodi staying, I'll be fine don't you worry." She smiled. Taylor returned the smile and caught them both by surprised by leaning forward and giving Laura a lingering kiss on the cheek before turning around and leaving. Laura automatically brought her hand up to her face touching the exact place where Taylor's lips had just been. She stood there for a second, no one will know what exactly consumed her thoughts but a small smile escaped her lips before she realised what she was doing. She shook her head, brought her hands back down and shut the door that was still open.

What had just happened?


End file.
